The ramblings of a pilgrim through time, space, and life.

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Welcome to the Capitol

"Hello, Good (insert morning or afternoon), Senator Gordon Smith’s office." Yep, that is the new line to which I answer the telephone. No more is it, "Hello, Good (insert morning or afternoon), The Gallatin Group, this is Paul. It took me a few tries to get it down. I will have to make sure I watch myself until it has become habit.

Things are proving to turn out in a good way in Washington, D.C.. I am looking forward to this semester here in the center of the political world. Here is one of the places where it is literally believed that the universe revolves around us. The sun might not, but everything else does. The first day on the job was interesting. I was privileged to go on 3 Capitol tours. Of one I helped lead. First day on the job and I am already leading a tour. Good thing I am a quick learner!

They started off by teasing us. Until lunch they made it appear that it was the Nazi zone. Strict rules of addressing and order of command. It had me a bit wound up as I don’t care much for strict order of command. It just causes way too many problems, the least of which is complete miscommunication. Things calmed by lunch and we were all chatting like old friends. It will be good to sit and chat with everyone and get to know them all better. I am looking forward to the opportunity. Many of them leave for home this weekend so they are frantically showing us the ropes. Not really frantically, it is really relaxed and good, but trying to cram everything that we need to know in two days. It will keep me busy.

Getting to work will be interesting. Things are going to cost more than I anticipated here. Just transportation costs are going to remove what I will be saving from my lunch bill. I will start taking my own lunches. However, everything I save will be consumed by the MetroRail costs. That includes parking. I will have to find out if the bus is really cheaper. If not, looks like it will cost me roughly $10 a day. I hope not. I will have to see what I can work out.

I found out I am still owing on my USU account. Yep, they are charging me over $500 dollars in fees, most of which I will never use. I am paying for attendance at athletic events, computer labs, exercise court, and a host of things, none of which I will ever come near to using this semester. We worked on that last year, but nothing ever came of it. The way and abuses of bureaucrazy right!

Well, I am going to sign off. I look forward to what a wonderful opportunity this is all going to be. Just hope I can overcome my cold from the flight quickly.